


The Flowers Have Bloomed (IT)

by orphan_account



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Fluff, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 16:10:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21359011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Richie passes through Derry again after his return tour of being out of commission for 3 years due to "an incident." He finds himself thinking of what could have been and what was. When he passes by the remains of the house that took away the love of his life he finds something that he could never imagine.
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Beverly Marsh, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Kudos: 3





	The Flowers Have Bloomed (IT)

**Author's Note:**

> it'll get better, trust me! hope you enjoy!!

Richie had taken a drink of his water, sobriety was a bitch but it really did improve his skills so he couldn't complain. There was the cheering of his fans, and they were so glad he was back, he was too, but he just felt... empty. He knew why but of course he could never say that to anyone, he touched his own hand and sat down on a couch in the back while everyone in there was scrambling to get things set up for the comedians big return. He still didn't have a love and he still woke up in fear. He was sure that the others still had this problem, but Bev was lucky that it had passed. But something that made him hurt more was that he was still closeted.

He took another look at his lines, but it was sort of like he was faking it, he knew what to say, and his eyes were glossing over the pages over and over again, mechanical but he knew what he was really thinking about. He couldn't think about that. It makes things so difficult to do, and he needed to do this, for him, just for him. Richie knew how much he loved his stupid jokes that's why he wrote the material himself and if he was here today he'd probably chant with the crowd. Actually, he'd be folding his arm in an uncomfortable fashion and keep staring straight ahead in small anticipation just for him. But he was here in spirit. Richie thought that to himself trying to make himself feel more confidant and easier for him to get prepared to walk on stage.

"Rich! You're on in three!" His new boss was shouting as if he'd been calling out to him for more than a minute. Richie nodded and prepared himself for the show. There were people dragging him back and doing more finishing touches and some additional things that didn't really matter to him. he thought the fast pace would make him feel like he was, but he knew that wasn't true, especially the breakdown he had the last before his two year break. There were notes that were so supportive and hoped he got well soon and how they apologized and said they knew how he was feeling. When the depression got worse he read some of those thinking it was him, later he came to realize that was a bad habit and stopped that.

There was blaring lights but no noise, he kept his hands in his pocket feeling nervous than he could have thought, but the moment he stepped out to see everyone screaming and cheering for him it subsided and his smile was small but it was relieved. Some things were just enough to make him stop thinking about such dark things. And it was just like old times, just him, the mic and his jokes. Every joke he'd wrote made the audience laugh some had tears streaming down their face out of sheer joy, he wondered how that felt again... That thought almost knocked him off balance but he still kept it going and in no time it was out of his mind. 

At the end of his act he did a Q and A as it was also another feature of this show. He knew what the first question would be, so it didn't shock him too much.  
"What happened that made you go on a two year hiatus?" he knew the question was loaded but he could feel as if everyone's eyes were focused at the questioner, either out of shock or of anger of such a dark question. Richie's eyes glanced around as he cleared his throat. They all probably thought he would dodge the question but he nodded taking on the question head on. 

"I lost someone very important to me. I can't really say a lot about it but I'm working through it as best as I can. And I hope you can all understand."  
"Next question." His boss cut in knowing most but not all of the story stepped in when she felt the room get sorrowful. The other questions were normal but the room was still more or less uncomfortable. After ten more questions the show was over, there weren't a lot of backstage people and it only took an hour to get though it all. When it was all done and over with he sat outside staring at the water bottle on the ground, it was all scuffed up and yet the water was surprisingly clear, it must have fallen out of someones car maybe he thought to himself. When he looked up he could see the first questionnaire his eyes drifted to the ground as he spoke to the famous person.

"I'm really sorry about you loss, I've been there before too..." Richie nodded and understood.  
"it's okay kid, I get it," This boy was probably younger than 20. The kid continued to talk.  
"I remember when my best friend got killed by some killer in our town. He was so great." He sat down at a very reasonable distance away from Richie as his eyes filled with tears the more he spoke. "I never got to tell him that-" he paused as he glanced up at Richie stray little tears falling as he stopped himself short. abruptly short. Richie knew what he was going to say. he really wanted to say he knew exactly how he felt but if he did, people would find out somehow and the whole entirety could possibly ruin him. He really wished he could speak about what he felt, but it was only for discussions him and his boss would sometimes talk about.

After the kid left his boss came by and gritted her teeth as she spoke.  
"Rode island canceled on us! Those massive fuckers are missing the real deal here! But we found another place that might take us."  
"Where?"  
"...you aren't going to like it."


End file.
